15 | O akville B eaver | T hursday,January 24,2019 insidehalton.com ONTARIO ENERGY BOARD NOTICE TO CUSTOMERS OF ENBRIDGE GAS INC. (FORMERLY ENBRIDGE GAS DISTRIBUTION INC. AND UNION GAS LIMITED) Enbridge Gas Inc. has applied to raise its natural gas rates effective January 1, 2019. Learn more. Have your say. The Ontario Energy Board approved the amalgamation of Enbridge Gas Distribution Inc. and Union Gas Limited in August 2018. The companies have amalgamated to form Enbridge Gas Inc. Enbridge Gas Inc. has applied to the Ontario Energy Board to raise its natural gas rates effective January 1, 2019. If the application is approved as filed, the yearly bill of a typical residential customer within the former Enbridge Gas Distribution Inc. and Union Gas Limited rate zones will increase by the following amounts: Rate Zones Residential Annual Bill Increase Enbridge GasEnbridge Gas $ 5.74 Union South $ 9.98 Union North East $ 4.88 Union North West $ 6.81 The rates are based on a rate-setting framework and other adjustments previously approved by the Ontario Energy Board for the period 2019-2023. The rates are set using a formula that is tied to inflation and other factors intended to promote efficiency. Enbridge Gas Inc. is also asking the Ontario Energy Board to approve its rate design proposal and the costs of certain capital projects that are not part of their regular capital expenditures. Other customers of Enbridge Gas Inc. may be affected. It is important to review the application carefully to determine whether you will be affected by the changes. THE ONTARIO ENERGY BOARD IS HOLDING A PUBLIC HEARING The Ontario Energy Board (OEB) will hold a public hearing to consider the application filed by Enbridge Gas Inc. We will question Enbridge Gas Inc. on the case. We will also hear questions and arguments from individual customers and from groups that represent the customers of Enbridge Gas Inc. At the end of this hearing, the OEB will decide whether the rate increase requested in the application will be approved. The OEB is an independent and impartial public agency. We make decisions that serve the public interest. Our goal is to promote a financially viable and efficient energy sector that provides you with reliable energy services at a reasonable cost. BE INFORMED AND HAVE YOUR SAY You have the right to information regarding this application and to be involved in the process. • You can review the application filed by Enbridge Gas Inc. on the OEB's website now. • You can file a letter with your comments, which will be considered during the hearing. • You can become an active participant (called an intervenor). Apply by February 5, 2019 or the hearing will go ahead without you and you will not receive any further notice of the proceeding. • At the end of the process, you can review the OEB's decision and its reasons on our website. LEARN MORE Our file number for this case is EB-2018-0305. To learn more about this hearing, find instructionsTo learn more about this hearing, find instructionsT on how to file letters or become an intervenor, or to access any document related to this case, please enter the file number EB-2018-0305 on the OEB website: www.oeb.ca/participate. YouYouY can also phone our Consumer Relations Centre at 1-877-632-2727 with any questions. ORAL VS. WRITTEN HEARINGS There are two types of OEB hearings - oral and written. The OEB will determine at a later date whether to proceed by way of a written or oral hearing. If you think an oral hearing is needed, you can write to the OEB to explain why by February 5, 2019. PRIVACY If you write a letter of comment, your name and the content of your letter will be put on the public record and the OEB website. However, your personal telephone number, home address and e-mail address will be removed. If you are a business, all your information will remain public. If you apply to become an intervenor, all information will be public. This hearing will be held under section 36 of the Ontario Energy Board Act, S.O. 1998 c.15 (Schedule B). Ontario Energy Board Commission de l'énergie de l'Ontario "A healthy balance" is a term often heard when discussing mental health and wellness. But what does it really mean? What is "balance" and what makes it "healthy"? Think about the number of things we manage in our lives on a regular basis: caring for our- selves, family, friends, hobbies, work, physical health, spiritual- ity, thoughts, feelings - the list goes on and on. Balance means giving the right amount of time and effort to each one of these to maximize our well-being. Imagine that it's a busy time at work and we're working more hours for a few days - that will take away time that we would normally devote to other areas of our life. It may lead to us feel- ing spread thin and missing things that we would usually do. Although we can manage being out of balance like this for a short time, doing it for too long can have more major impacts on our wellness, and we may find ourselves feeling resentful, ex- tra stressed, anxious, down and exhausted. A "healthy balance" will be different for every one of us. Think of it as a pie: we each have one that represents all of our time, and the size of each slice of pie will vary from person to per- son. Maybe I like socializing more than you do, so time with friends and family will be a larg-friends and family will be a larg-f er slice of my pie. Or maybe there's a slice of your pie that I don't have at all because it's not key to my personal balance. We need to choose how weWe need to choose how weW slice our pie carefully and pay attention to how it affects us. Say we choose to skip going for a walk for today and have a much- needed nap instead; if we're feel- ing a bit worn down, listening to our bodies and getting extra sleep may be key to our balance today. But if we skip that walk for a few days and are starting tofor a few days and are starting tof feel a bit sluggish and restless,feel a bit sluggish and restless,f we need to think about slicing the pie differently and making time for some exercise. Each day doesn't need to be identical - it needs to address our needs at that particular time. Key to identifying this is checking in with our thoughts, feelings and body to recognizefeelings and body to recognizef signs that we need to rejig how we're spending our time. Then it's about giving ourselves per- mission to do just that and re-es- tablish our healthy balance. Melanie McGregor is the communications and advance- ment specialist at the Canadian Mental Health Association Halton Region Branch, which provides mental health/addic- tion community support and education. Visit www.hal- ton.cmha.ca for more informa- tion and follow @cmhahalton on Twitter. OPINION STRIVING FOR A HEALTHY BALANCE IN OUR DAILY LIVES EACH DAY CAN BE DIFFERENT, WRITES MELANIE MCGREGOR insidehalton.com/events Check out our event listings Check out our event listings calendar to find a fun event calendar to find a fun event for your family and friends today. for your family and friends today. Looking for things to do in and around Oakville? Please keep our community clean! MELANIE MCGREGOR Column